Known implantable sites are generally in the form of a housing having a bottom from which extend side walls whose free ends define a proximal opening. The bottom and the side walls are made of an uninterrupted and rigid material, such as titanium, in order to prevent the bottom and side walls from being transpierced by a needle. The proximal opening is closed off by a membrane made of an elastomer material forming a “septum,” i.e., a puncture zone suitable for being transpierced by a needle for injecting fluid into or tapping fluid from the internal volume of the housing defined by the bottom, by the side walls, and by the membrane.
In order to ensure that the housing is properly leaktight, the membrane made of elastomer is also generally of large thickness, e.g., of thickness greater than 4 mm. The membrane is compressed laterally in uniform manner, e.g., by forced hooping or binding by means of a metal ring, so as to impart self-closure (or self-healing) properties that are sufficient. In other words, once the needle has been removed from the membrane, the membrane, by means of the continuous internal stress to which the membrane is subjected, immediately closes the hole corresponding to the needle passing through the membrane.
Although such prior art sites are generally satisfactory, these sites also suffer from certain non-negligible drawbacks.
Firstly, because of the large thickness of the membrane that is necessary in order to impart appropriate leaktightness to the housing, known implantable sites are voluminous, which can contribute to making these implantable sites uncomfortable for many patients, and in particular in patients of slight build, such as children.
In addition, known devices are generally difficult to manufacture, precisely because of the need to compress the septum-forming membrane. The operation of assembling the membrane, i.e., of inserting the membrane into a ring to compress the membrane, is thus, in general, difficult and poorly reproducible.
Finally, the need to compress the membrane significantly limits the possibilities of shaping the housing. In particular, currently known technology does not make it possible to obtain a site that can be pierced over a curved surface while also offering an excellent level of leaktightness for a large number of piercing operations (e.g., at least one thousand).